Teetering on the Edge
by AnExpressionOfWisdom
Summary: She thought running away from her troubles would lessen the pain and so far it had kept it at bay, with her friends surrounding her, but being best friends with Harry Potter always results in the impossible happening and she is not yet ready to face him.
1. Chapter 1

**Teetering on the Edge**

**Summary: **She thought running away from her troubles would lessen the pain and so far it had kept it at bay with her friends surrounding her, but being best friends with Harry Potter always results in the impossible happening and she is not yet ready to face him.

This is just an idea that popped into my head today that wouldn't go away. Review and let me know if you want me to continue this story. I'm not sure if I should. This story will not detract anytime from _The Clock is Ticking on the Light_ a new chapter for that is on its way - its NOT being abandoned!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own either Harry Potter or the Twilight series's, this is purely fan fiction

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**Chapter 1**

Hermione stormed into the Great Hall and up to the head table where Harry sat in his seat as Headmaster.

"Harry James Potter! I can't believe you. You called me away from my potions, which I told you were delicate and now this month's wolfsbane is ruined. I don't have time to recreate it before the full moon next week. I hope you have an explanation ready for Remus!"

Harry glupped. Since her return from the visit with her Uncle in the States Hermione had been so touchy. If anything went wrong she whirled into a huge frenzy. All the students had become so use to her antics in the last 3 months that they now ignored their potions professor's daily rant at the Headmaster.

He understood what had happened. A vampire had broken her heart and she was pushing away her ache, but she was becoming short tempered and irrational. She had told him all the sordid details when she arrived through the floo into his and Ginny's living room in tears. It had taken two weeks to nurse her back from the shell she had become after the vampire unceremoniously dumped her the day after her birthday.

He was not about to let her wallow in misery after he returned to Hogwarts for the year. Slughorn had turned in his resignation at the end of the last year in order to return to retirement with as much crystallised pineapple as he could get his hands on. That had left the potions position free and Harry immediately offered it to his friend. He had her in mind from the start and if she hadn't come back herself he would have flooed over to Forks to ask her himself.

So Hermione had taken to the position with zeal. The students loved her even if they thought her a bit odd at times – she was a good teacher.

She had reached the head table and was standing directly in front of Harry, a hand on her cocked hip, demanding an answer. "Umm, sorry 'Mio-"

He was cut off by a disbelieving voice to his right where one of seven special guests was seated.

"Bella?"

Hermione's eyes snapped towards to all to familiar voice that she how only heard in her dreams. Her eyes widened in shocked recognition before swinging back to her best friend, anger sweeping her features.

"You had better have a good explanation" she snapped at him as she reached over and grasped his ear between her fingers and pulled him out of his chair and around the table, before dragging him down past house tables and out into the Entrance Hall.

The students were whispering as the rumour mill churned. Normally Harry would calm his screeching friend and she would sit down for her meal. Never had she yanked him out his chair and away from the Great Hall. Many were staring curiously at the seven pale figures that had come in with the Headmaster earlier. What had they done to cause that reaction? One of the younger ones that looked no older than seventeen was half out of his chair watching the Headmaster and potions professor flee the Great Hall.

Harry was dragged barely outside the Hall before Hermione slapped him across the face and yelled. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE THEY DOING HERE HARRY? YOU KNOW WHAT HE DID TO ME! I can't believe you would invite them into the school anywhere near me. I hate you! I hate you!...."

By the end of her rant she had broken down into tears and her brown eyes were shining with emotion she had been trying so hard to suppress. Harry pulled her into a hug, she tried to push him away but he held on, and finally she clung to her friend as though her life depended on it and wept into his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry Hermione, I didn't know these were your Cullen's, otherwise I never would have invited them here. Will you forgive me darling. Come with me Honey we need to get you down to bed." Harry lead his weeping Potions Mistress down towards the dungeons where Hermione had insisted she wanted the room.

Back in the Great Hall, the Cullen Coven had clearly heard the exchange in the Entrance Hall, even the parts that had fallen into silence for the rest of the Hall. Edward fell into his chair. "She hates me." He despaired with his face in his hands and his shouldered shaking with dry sobs.

"What I want to know," Piped up Rosalie in her haunty tones, "is why the Headmaster called her Hermione and what she is doing here in this wizarding world as though she belongs, while we have only just found out about it."

The Headmaster then made his re-entrance through a side door, halting once he had caught the Cullen's eyes and with a very sharp edge to his voice he called, just loud enough that they would discern it from the students around the Hall, "Carlisle could you please bring your Coven with me." He then turned and held the door open for the vampires as they came through.

The group of eight was silent as moved through the school towards the stone gargoyle guarding the spiralling staircase to Harry's office. Edward moved like a graceful robot as they ascended. He missed the moving staircases and the talking portraits that had the coven's attention he was too far into his own grief.

Once the group had entered and Harry was standing behind his desk, he turned. Where there had been warmth and open friendliness before stood in its place a chilly anger with eyes that projected a sense of a dangerous man to cross. It was in those eyes that they understood why this 23year old man was the Headmaster.

"I invited you to this school as I believed it would be benefital for the students here to meet a coven of vampires, especially individuals such as yourselves who don't feed on human blood. For the last 6 years I have been trying to combat prejudices wrought in this world. However it is of the utmost importance that I protect the people in this school and that includes Hermione."

He turned to Edward. "You have no idea the trauma you have caused on her psyche. You left her after she lost many people who were close to her, including her fiancée Ron. The wizarding world has been at peace for 6 years but it takes far longer than that to grieve the people we lost to secure that peace. Hermione assumed a new identity and travelled to Washington to try and resume her live. Like myself, the press hounded her for a story due to her involvement in the war and so to get some peace she moved to Forks to live with her Uncle Charlie under the guise of his daughter. You have no idea who Hermione Jean Granger is. You have caused her enough pain already and I wont see her fall back into the miserable wreck she was 4 months ago, she is struggling enough as it is. Therefore you all need to leave."

He finally seated himself looking exhausted.

Edward was up and pacing though. "I can't just leave her now I've found her again. I love her and these past four months have been torture without her."

"You left her Edward, how can you say you loved her?" Harry replied and lowered his occulumacy shields. He thought about the way his best friend had been when she came back to England from Washington. To Edward there was suddenly thoughts where previously it was blank and he cringed at the assault. At the desperate blankness infecting his Bella. He chocked.

"I was trying to keep her safe. We are a danger to her."

Harry gave a hollow laugh. "You are no danger to that girl. She is the most intelligent witch of her generation and she has fought and killed many vampires before and I have _no doubts_ she could do it again."

Harry gave directions and information for the coven to find their way around the wizarding world as he lead them to the gates of Hogwarts. When they arrived the Headmaster turned to Edward and said, "Find out about Hermione, learn who she is and think about how you can make it up to her if you still want her after that. Otherwise, I warn you, do not venture near her with apologies and empty promises. She thought you were the one."

Alice hooked her arm around Edward's back and guided him away as he gazed longingly back at the castle, but Harry Potter stood at the gates, a guardian between his Bella, or Hermione, and himself.

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Please Review!


	2. Chapter 2

**Teetering on the Edge**

**Summary: **She thought running away from her troubles would lessen the pain and so far it had kept it at bay with her friends surrounding her, but being best friends with Harry Potter always results in the impossible happening and she is not yet ready to face him.

Its the second part of the story. I hope you enjoy it. This will be a three part story so enjoy it while it lasts. Sorry I haven't updated in so long but here it is.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own either Harry Potter or the Twilight series's, this is purely fan fiction

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**Chapter 2**

The Cullen's had rented some rooms in the Leaky Cauldron then had set out to explore the Alley beyond, all except Edward. He had locked himself in his room and lay on the bed thinking. He had been restless and irritable since he and his family had left Forks and Bella. He had been unable to forget her and had been sorely tempted to return and be with her. He had restrained himself however because of the danger he and his family represented to her.

Though now, here she was on the other side of the world, living in a society he could hardly comprehend. When was she going to tell him about her friends and her abilities, but most importantly when was she going to tell him her name? Hermione Granger. Edward rolled it around on his tongue. It was pretty. Hermione. It suited her, falsely accused, and from what Harry had shown him, some part of her had died already, hopefully Edward could bring her back.

This whole wizarding world was foreign. It was amazing that in his almost century of existence he had never before seen some things he had discovered within the last week. He wanted the knowledge but seeing Bella, or should he say Hermione, again he had to stop and think about everything. No wonder she had been able to identify his coven as vampires she had learnt about them at school and she had personal experience in battle against his own kind! That fact was one of the things that had sent him reeling. His Bella had participated in war and was more apt at defending herself against vampires and evil wizards than himself and she was seventeen - no even that was wrong, Harry Potter was 23 and they had gone to school together therefore she must be 23 as well. Edward really needed to talk to Bel- Hermione, but the Headmaster had told him he would not let the Cullens anywhere near her.

Edward commenced to order his knowledge of Hermione. He knew that she was friends with the Headmaster, Harry Potter, she had lost her fiancé Ron someone or other, had been in involved in a war and was the niece of Charlie Swan not his daughter. That didn't give him much to go by.

It also brought him to his next problem. Nowhere on the globe had he encountered so many minds closed to him. When he had met Hermione he thought she was unique and it was one of the reasons that he had taken the effort to get to know her but in this new world many minds were blank canvases. None of the children had this ability although, their minds shouted out in the silence from most of the adults. He had never felt this much at peace, it was a rare and welcome reprieve from the thoughts that streamed through his head in a continuous spiral. Not all the wizards and witches had it so it must still be a gift that manifested in later life. Some like Harry and Hermione he had no inkling about what they were thinking, where as others' thoughts flicked in and out of existence.

Wait! Back at Hogwarts Harry had allowed him to read his mind. What did that mean? Could these people control this barrier to their minds? Harry had after all directed his thoughts very purposely on thoughts of Hermione, when she had come back to England.

So he had two things to investigate. One, this mind blocking ability and two, Hermione Granger. The only problem – he didn't know where to start, his normal avenue of investigation was severely diminished. Perhaps the bookstore could help. Yes that would be where he would start.

With a new resolution he stood up from the bed where he had been lying and moved towards the door. He swiftly moved down the stairs and followed a family through the archway and into Diagon Alley. He paused at the chaotic beauty of jumbled stores and houses. Spewing out of the shop fronts were all kinds of weird and wonderful things, cauldrons, owl, objects changing colours and piles of trunks that should have by all means toppled to the ground.

Edwards meandered down the Alley in search of the bookstore. It seemed hundreds of young children were running around laughing and playing and behind them their parents were calling them back. In the chaos there were three names that rung constantly from the worried parents, Harry, Hermione and Ron. Was it a coincidence that the names of Hermione and her friends were scattered liberally throughout the generation below the age of six? This mystery was infuriating, anytime Edward thought he caught a thought about Hermione it turned out to be in reference to one of the many children running around his feet. Edward desperately walked over to one mother, whose mind he could read, that had just secured her own Hermione. He was hoping to direct her thoughts to find out some information so he asked, "Excuse me Madame. Why did you name your daughter Hermione?"

The woman turned and stared at the stranger, her thoughts ringing. _Did he just ask…. Hermione, he asked why I named my daughter Hermione? What rock was he under? Stupid question really, the whole wizarding world is naming their daughter Hermione and he doesn't know why. The ignorance of the youth._ Out load she simply asked, "Are you new to England?"

Edward refrained from saying he had been to England well before this woman was born. He needed to find information and that would help. He replied, "Yes, m'am, I arrived yesterday. I have been wondering why there are so many children named Harry, Hermione and Ron."

"Ah yes the Golden Trio, that's why. Surely you followed the Second Voldemort War where ever you were. Those three are the reason we are all alive so people honour them through their children."

Edward's mind was reeling again. Hermione was one of the top three players in this mysterious war. Faintly he replied, "Thank you. Could you please direct me to the nearest bookstore?"

"Sure darling. Head down the Alley and the fifth shop on the left should be Flourish and Blotts. That's the best bookstore on the strip."

"Thank you for your help." Then Edward departed. Now he had something concrete to look up at the bookstore.

Upon entrance he began perusing the shelves. He bypassed the shelves labelled potions, defence against the dark arts, transfiguration, occulmacy and legimacy, divination and charms. He was looking for history. The Second Voldemort War to be precise. When he found it two whole shelves were devoted to the events. Titles included, _The Second Rising, Ridding the world of Voldemort, The World According to You-Know-Who, Harry Potter: The Boy-Who-Lived, The Golden Trio and Their Part in the War._ These books covered the war as a whole so Edward grabbed a couple especially the one on the Golden trio, the women had alluded to Hermione being apart of that.

Paying with the strange money he made his way back to the Leaky Cauldron. Alice ghosted up to Edward as he past through the archway and accompanied him back to their room. They lay on the bed in a human style fashion, falling into the charade they had adopted for decades.

Alice was on her stomach with her feet in the air reading _The Second Rising_, while Edward had settled on his back propped up against the pillow with _The Golden Trio and Their Part in the War._ As they both read Edward was grateful for his ability to read minds as he absorbed what Alice was reading as well. Between them they finished the pile of books rather quickly.

After placing the last of the books aside, Edward froze in despondency. The girl he had meet in Forks, the beautiful, intelligent, funny girl that he had fallen in love with had a whole life that he didn't know about. Despite that, reading these books and gaining a minute insight into the extraordinary woman's life intrigued him and pushed his need to know her, all of her.

"Alice, what do I do?" he murmured.

"You know I can't see that until you decide something." She then softened, "All you need to do is show her that you are sorry and plead and beg for her forgiveness."

"But I don't even know her! How can I say sorry to her when she is a mystery to me? How do I know what she will like or how she will respond? When she looked at me, hatred was burning in her eyes – and I don't blame her, that horrible, horrible blankness that the Headmaster showed Bella had been infused with was torturous." Edward lamented.

"Well," Alice began, "don't you think you should start by calling her Hermione. That is her name, as we have now discovered." She smiled to take the edge off her words. "I think it is probably a good experience for you to not know how she will respond, it may deflate your ego a bit. Regardless of all that, Hermione and Bella are the same person. You may not know everything about the woman but you know her on a more intimate level, you know her emotionally and understand the little quirks that make up Hermione. The extra details will come later but first you need to buck up and use what you know of your girl."

Edward's mouth stirred from the frozen marble statue, into a smile and the tension in his shoulder relaxed.

"Alright, so I need something that says I'm sorry." Edward was then out the door and back to the Alley before Alice could discern her vision of his fate. She couldn't help but chuckle; glad her brother would be happy.

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Please Review!


	3. Chapter 3

**Teetering on the Edge**

**Summary: **She thought running away from her troubles would lessen the pain and so far it had kept it at bay with her friends surrounding her, but being best friends with Harry Potter always results in the impossible happening and she is not yet ready to face him.

Hello my faithful - loyal friends - incredibly sorry for the very long delay in publishing anything recently. I don't really have any excuses to share with you apart from a massive writers block but hopefully that has now been solved to a small extent and you can enjoy the next (and final) instalment of TOTE. xx AEOW.

**Disclaimer:** These characters are so OOC by now that they are mine I just happened to steal their names and settings from some other women.

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**Chapter Three**

Edward still had no clue how to approach Hermione. Bella, now that would be a different story. He knew Bella; well at least he thought he did. Now that he and his family had moved to England he was finding that the Bella he knew was a makeshift alias for someone trying to hide from the world and her past. The real Bella, Hermione, was a complex character that boggled Edward's mind. She has fought in a war and came out as one of the three main heroes to her world - their world he corrected himself, vampires were very much a part of this magical world. A world he was only just learning about whereas Hermione had discovered it at the age of eleven. In the Great Hall of Hogwarts the other week, her confidence and ease in this foreign world made Edward feel like a child again, something that hadn't happened to him in almost 100 years.

So here he was sneaking down through the old castle corridors, following Hermione's scent into the dungeons. He was just hoping to catch a glimpse of her - it had been so long. He could tell he was getting closer as her scent was becoming concentrated and utterly intoxicating. When all of a sudden a voice spoke from the shadows.

"I wouldn't go any further if I was you, Edward." Harry Potter emerged with a rye smile adorning his features. Harry had known the vampire wouldn't be able to stay away. "Unless, of course, you are ready to face her. She has proximity wards, which would alert her of your presence if you took one more step. See us war heroes - we're paranoid folk."

Then in a blink the Headmaster was gone. The ability of human mortals to disappear and appear at will without a trace scared Edward slightly - what else was there out there he had no clue about? Turning back to his new conundrum he stared down at his feet. Well this had halted his plans to observe as he had done in Forks - then again... had she known he was there the entire time waiting with her wand in hand for an attack?

Edward drew a long, rattling, unnecessary breath. With a confidence in his step he certainly didn't feel he muttered, "Well here goes nothing." and stepped forward.

Hermione's head snapped up from the potion she was balanced over. Someone had breached her wards, and not just any someone, this vampire was very familiar, she acutely remembered him from all her time in Forks as she had fallen deeper and deeper for the tosser.

Her eyes narrowed and her wand snapped, putting her potion in stasis. She spun around and marched to the door wand in hand. She threw open the door to be met with a bewildered Edward Cullen poised to knock.

Edward went cross eyed trying to watch the wand levelled at his face but he still registered the barked, "What do you want Vampire?"

He gulped. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry for leaving you like I did and that I want to make it up to you Bella. I - "

"I'm not Bella, my name is Hermione." the potion mistress snapped.

"Yes, it is but when were you going to tell _me _that?" Edward replied with some of his own anger.

"Well its a damn good thing I didn't cause look what you went and did. You bloody ran away from your problems. Didn't want the mortal anymore so just ditched her for the next great adventure." She span back around and tried to slam the door in his face but he was to quick holding it open and following her inside.

"Hermione - you know it wasn't like that. I just didn't want you hurt by something you didn't understand."

She whirled back to Edward, "Don't understand, I'll give you something you don't understand! _Levicorpus." _With a slash of her wand he was hanging upside-down by an ankle. As she started [talking] again her feet took her circling around a hanging Edward reminding him of a predator circling its prey.

"You have no idea who I am or what I am capable of. To you I am just a backward Muggle with an interestingly blank mind, to toy with until you had enough fun before disappearing to find a new -"

"That's not true Hermione, I love you!" he cut her off.

"You don't know who Hermione is! So how can you possibly love me?" She screamed back at him, her anger cracking and tears starting to leak out her eyes.

"Well let me get to know you, the real you!"

Hermione stared at the upside down vampire for a few seconds before releasing the spell. Edward dropped to the ground, landing feet first as Hermione surged forwards and locked their lips together. Their bodies melded together, fire and ice playing over the others skin as tongues entangled.

Hermione broke the kiss to breathe and they stood there still conjoined at the hips with their arms wrapped around the other's waist.

"Hi, my name is Edward Cullen, I'm 101 years old and a vampire."

"Hello Edward, it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Hermione Granger, I'm 23 and I'm a witch."

**Epilogue  
**  
The seventh years arrived at their potions class the next morning to find their professor already here, pottering around the classroom humming to herself. A very big change to the usual storming in at the last minute in a fluster. Her normally frizzy hair was even falling in smooth curls down her back.

The students were muttering between themselves wandering what had happened when Hermione heard the jackpot. "I reckon she got laid."

There were a couple of laughs but only silence once Professor Granger inserted "You are correct Edwards, 10 points to Slytherin, but I would appreciate it if you kept speculation on my sex life to yourself and turn to page 375, today we are brewing Felix Felicis otherwise known as liquid luck."

-The End-


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